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2014 Newsletter 1.6180339887498948482045868343656381177203091798057628621354486227052604628189024497072072041893911374847540880753868917521266338622235369317931800607667263544333890865959395829056383226613199282902679 2.718281828459045235360287471352662497757247093699959574966967627724076630353547594571382178525166427427466391932003059921817M e t r o M4135966290435729003342952605956307381323286279434907632338298807531952510190 a t h N e w s l e t t e r Metropolitan New York Section of The Mathematical Association of America April 2014 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095505822317253594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303820 Bronx Brooklyn Columbia Dutchess Greene Manhattan Nassau Orange Putnam Queens Richmond Rockland Suffolk Sullivan Ulster Westchester 0.57721566490153286060651209008240243104215933593992359880576723488486772677766467093694706329174674951463144724980708248096050401448654283622417399764492353625350033374293733773767394279259525824709492 A N N U A L M E E T I N G Saturday, 3 May 2014 8:30 AM 5:20 PM Nassau Community College (SUNY) Garden City, NY (More Information Contained Within) 0.68268949213708589717046509126407584495582593345320878197478890048598288397440965900176983681127865505654537517323384300945434414234924089321879626546752479682206254609568685354544015799175873205748337 SECTION OFFICERS Section Governor Dan King (845) 365-0117 (2011 – 2014) Sarah Lawrence College [email protected] Chair Jerry G. Ianni (718) 482-5739 (2012 – 2015) LaGuardia Community College (CUNY) [email protected] Chair-Elect Elena Goloubeva (516) 671-2215 x111 (2012 – 2015) Webb Institute [email protected] Secretary Emad Alfar (516) 572-7383 x 26865 (2012 – 2015) Nassau Community College (SUNY) [email protected] Treasurer Mohammad Javadi (516) 572-7383 x 26882 (2012 – 2015) Nassau Community College (SUNY) [email protected] Vice-Chair for Four-Year Colleges Janet Liou-Mark (718) 260-5929 (2012 – 2015) NYC College of Technology (CUNY) [email protected] Vice-Chair for Two-Year Colleges Chia-Ling Lin (516) 572-7383 x 26866 (2012 – 2015) Nassau Community College (SUNY) [email protected] Vice-Chair for High Schools Ken Gittelson (718) 279-6527 (2012 – 2015) Benjamin Cardozo High School [email protected] Math Fair Chair – NYC Randy J. Asher (718) 804–6500 Brooklyn Technical High School [email protected] Math Fair Chair – Long Island Joseph Quartararo (631) 584-2016 Northport-East Northport Public Schools [email protected] Speaker’s Bureau Chair Dan King (845) 365-0117 Sarah Lawrence College [email protected] Newsletter Editor Abraham S. Mantell (516) 572-7383 x 26841 Nassau Community College (SUNY) [email protected] Student Chapter Coordinator David Seppala-Holtzman (718) 636-7254 St. Joseph’s College [email protected] Public Relations Chair David Seppala-Holtzman (718) 636-7254 St. Joseph’s College [email protected] Book Exhibit Coordinator Elena Goloubeva (516) 671-2215 x111 Webb Institute [email protected] Liaison Coordinator Raymond N. Greenwell (516) 463-5573 and Webmaster Hofstra University [email protected] Graph Theory Notes Liaisons John W. Kennedy, Queens College [email protected] Louis V. Quintas, Pace University [email protected] Daniel Gagliardi, SUNY Canton [email protected] Section Archivist Agnes M. Kalemaris (631) 420-2217 Farmingdale State College (SUNY) [email protected] 1.1447298858494001741434273513530587116472948129153115715136230714721377698848260797836232702754897077020098122286979891590482055279234565872790810788102868252763939142663459029024847733588699377892031 Section Web Page – sections.maa.org/metrony National Web Page – www.maa.org (both sites are linked to each other) 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Section Officers . 2 Table of Contents . 3 Map and Membership Count of the Metro NY Section . 3 Message from the Chair, by Jerry G. Ianni . 4 Message from the Chair-Elect, by Elena Goloubeva . 4 Message from the Governor, by Dan King . 5 Treasurer’s Report, by Mohammad Javadi . 6 25 and 50 Year Members . 7 2014 Annual Meeting Program . 7 Abstracts and Brief Speaker Biographies . 8 Registration Form for Spring Meeting . 10 Nassau Community College Campus Map . 11 Featured Article: New York Math Circle – Math for Math’s Sake?, by Japheth Wood . 12 Book Review: The Heart of Hidden Reality by Edward Frenkel, Review by Jenifer Hummer. 13 Humor: Lucky Larry, by Raymond N. Greenwell . 15 Call For Participants and Involvement . 16 Math in the News from the MAA . 16 Annual Spring Meeting Announcement Poster (please post in your department) . 19 0.69314718055994530941723212145817656807550013436025525412068000949339362196969471560586332699641868754200148102057068573368552023575813055703267075163507596193072757082837143519030703862389167347112335 Metropolitan New York Section of the MAA Membership Count: 521 as of 25 March 2014 1.7320508075688772935274463415058723669428052538103806280558069794519330169088000370811461867572485756756261414154067030299699450949989524788116555120943736485280932319023055820679748201010846749232650 3 MESSAGE FROM THE SECTION CHAIR I would like to begin this message by thanking the team of section officers, committee chairs, and active members. One of the most comforting and enjoyable aspects that a section chair can experience is consistent support from a team of professional colleagues. I have been blessed to receive such support. It is my hope to maintain this camaraderie and to help ensure that section programming remains diverse, meaningful, and rewarding for the entire membership. A joint meeting with the New Jersey Section is planned for Saturday, 1 November 2014, at St. Peter's College in Jersey City. The previous joint meeting in 2007 was well received by all, so I hope that many of you will be able to participate actively. It should be an exciting event! Please visit the section website over the next few months for updates. Finally, I look forward to greeting all of you at the upcoming Annual Meeting on 3 May 2014 at Nassau Community College. We have three invited speakers giving accessible and informative talks: Linda Braddy, Ruth Charney, and Tim Chartier. Tim will also perform Mime-matics for us! Please look elsewhere in this newsletter for more details, and please visit the section website for updates. As always, I welcome your input and feedback on all section matters. Jerry G. Ianni Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College (CUNY) 0.43429448190325182765112891891660508229439700580366656611445378316586464920887077472922494933843174831870610674476630373364167928715896390656922106466281226585212708656867032959337086965882668833116361 MESSAGE FROM THE SECTION CHAIR-ELECT Dear Metro New York Members and Friends, The section appreciates you, needs you and is here for you. We need your help, your ideas, and your participation! We encourage you to visit the MAA Metro NY Website to see what is happening. Contact section officers or committee chairs to seek more information and to share your ideas with them. Express your interest in committees or offices that become open on a regular basis, nominate colleagues who would be interested to make valuable contributions. We are constantly looking for opportunities to meet other mathematicians, to grow professionally and to improve the MAA Metropolitan Section program. Finally, if you would like to extend your participation in the MAA beyond the Section, we support and strongly encourage you to seek involvement in MAA at the state and national levels. We cordially invite you to attend our Section meeting at Nassau Community College on May 3, 2014. Please consider giving a talk at this meeting. A Call for Papers, Meeting Registration Form, and Lodging &Directions are on our web page http://sections.maa.org/metrony/. Consider going to MAA MathFest in Portland, Oregon August 6-9, 2014. Come to the Joint Mathematics Meeting which will be held in San Antonio, Texas January 10-13, 2015. If you come to any of these meetings and see me, please feel free to come up and introduce yourself. Tell us about your concerns, suggestions and ideas. We will be happy to hear them. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as Chair-Elect of the Metropolitan NY Section of MAA, and to be a part of an amazing team of Section officers. I look forward to seeing you on May 3 at Nassau Community College. Elena Goloubeva Webb Institute 4 MESSAGE FROM THE SECTION GOVERNOR Greetings Section members! I hope you have all coped well with this long, harsh winter. Of course, there's no better way to thaw out from all the winter bitterness than by attending a spring math conference. And the Metro New York Section just happens to be planning a great one for you! Section Chair Jerry Ianni and the Executive Committee are in the final planning stage for our spring meeting that promises to be even more dynamic and event-filled than those in recent years. Mark your calendars: the fun happens this year at Nassau Community College on Saturday, May 3. Details of the event – schedule, speakers, registration and transportation information – are included within the pages of this newsletter. Did you know you can purchase MAA books at a hefty discount around the time of the spring meeting? Though book sale transactions will no longer occur at our spring meeting, MAA members will receive an email in the weeks preceding the spring meeting containing a special section meeting discount code for books purchased online. The MAA is providing a coupon
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